Outside Recordings vol.4 /Japan
2024 / 26’min
Field recordings
Earsight standard microphones (stereo pair) + Zoom h6
Various locations, September-October 2023
Full Album Stream︎︎︎
The album features two main axes: first, Tokyo’s vibrant soundscape, where tradition and modernity intersect in an ongoing conversation to find connections. This (unfinished and incomplete) sound map humbly seeks to capture the city's diverse auditory backdrop, ranging from the crowded, noisy plazas around skyscrapers to the quiet, traditional neighborhoods.
The second axis highlights the Takayama Autumn Festival, a deeply revered event in Gifu Prefecture, also known as the Hachiman Festival. Celebrating the harvest and marking the onset of winter preparations, this festival is steeped in heritage. Traditional music plays a crucial role, with performances of gagaku—an ancient court music known for its elegant and solemn tones—and hayashi music, typical of Japanese festivals, which combines flutes, drums, and other percussion instruments. These musical elements, along with the procession of yatai—elaborately decorated festival floats—and the timeless dances of puppeteers, weave together to create an immersive cultural experience.
However, while developing this project, I aimed to recognize and address the limitations of my Eurocentric viewpoint, though I likely navigated the delicate balance between fascination and 'accurate' documentation with limited success. This process raised questions about where and why I should position my recording device, revealing certain contradictions. Ultimately, it underscores the inherent distance that remains when observing from an external perspective, highlighting the challenge of truly comprehending events that are fundamentally different from one's own experience.